2009 Imperial Eclipse Stout...release date set!

As I thought about writing this a lot of moments in the past have come to the forefront of my brain. The first time I brewed Eclipse was when I was back at Flossmoor Station in Illinois. It was in 1997 fairly late in the year. We packed the mash tun full of malt well over a thousand pounds of it. Then there were the goodies we put in the kettle to drive up the gravity. Fun stuff.
That beer would later be the first beer that had been aged in a Bourbon Barrel to be given a medal at the Great American Beer Festival and that was in 1998. When they still had the GABF at Currigan Hall. I remember after the awards ceremony that someone had dragged the Beer Hunter Michael Jackson over to taste the beer and have our picture taken together. Pretty neat stuff... We named that beer Imperial Eclipse Stout because on the day it was brewed there was an Eclipse of the moon. It's a name I wanted to keep using today and the folks at Flossmoor Station graciously retired from their lineup.

Fast forward to 2009 and another milestone for Imperial Eclipse Stout will soon occur. Since FiftyFifty opened in 2007 there have been two batches of Eclipse produced...small batches and most of the beer served over the bar. We hand bottled some but that is a daunting task to do even a few hundred bottles. The 2008 vintage got up to about 500 or so bottles and they got around...and by around I mean the entire country. If you look up on the beer rating websites you'll find reviews for Eclipse. Almost every single one a glowing review. Well, the 2009 vintage saw the greatest amount of Imperial Eclipse Stout brewed to date. We aged it in Elijah Craig, Heaven Hill Rye and Jack Daniels barrels. Rather than blend the entire lot we kept the barrels separate so the consumer could compare the barrel treatments if they desired. There is no better way to 'follow the journey of a barrel aged beer' than to taste the nuances left by the barrel itself.

On December 23rd FiftyFifty Brewing Co. is proud to release the 2009 vintage of Imperial Eclipse Stout. The Elijah Craig and Heaven Hill Rye barrel aged versions will be available in wax dipped 22oz bottles. The Jack Daniels barrel aged version is anticipated to be available in the second week of January. At least two versions will be available on draught that day.

Questions? call the Brewery at 530-587-2337 ask for Todd or Kyle

What can you do in a day...

Well, that isn't my most snappy opening line but I feel it's works for today.

Kyle and I got four beers added to the draft lineup today. The return of Donner Party Porter and Trifecta Tripel. Both are tasting great with the Tripel really dialed in and I'm very happy with that... A new batch of Concentrated Evil which is also tasting good and the raisin component is there and very drinkable as well. Finally, the last of our tribute beer BART. Bart was the Ashman's pet for 19 years and we blended up our Summit BarleyWine and Roundabout Oatmeal Stout to celebrate Bart's life. Then we aged it in a Jack Daniels barrel. This is the last keg there is and Kyle and I felt it fitting to share it with our guests at FiftyFifty this holiday season. Please come by and try this special brew...it's tasting stellar.

To wrap up the day I p/o'd my boss...I'm hoping she'll forgive me...please...

Cheers!

Todd

Imperial Eclipse Stout gets Top Honors at Bistro Barrel Aged Beer Festival

The 4th Bistro Barrel Aged Beer Fest in Hayward, CA is in the books and guess what??? I guess the title gives it away but FiftyFifty got the coveted Peoples Choice award. The only award presented at the festival. The beer was the 2008 Imperial Eclipse Stout aged in Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon barrels. To put it simply this beer is completely dialed in at the moment. The base beer was brewed in May of 2008 and put into barrels for 225 days. Kegged and put into cold storage it emerged from it's slumber just a few weeks ago, we force carbonated just one day before the fest.

There were many great breweries at the fest and over 70 beers entered. We were in great company and when I can track down a full list I'll post it here. If you were lucky enough to be there and got a taste of the 2008 Eclipse you've tasted some of the last of the vintage.

We'll be getting ready to get the 2009 Eclipse ready before long...into bottles and draft at the pub.

Cheers!

Todd

FiftyFifty Imperial Stout prevails!!!(again)

It's certainly a fun story... The base beer for our Imperial Eclipse Stout has done it again. Bronze for the big beer that could. The 2009 GABF in Denver is in the history books and FiftyFifty Brewing Co. has made it in there yet again. The competition which was huge this year with over 3300 beers entered into 78 categories seems daunting to even the biggest breweries.
Nearly 500 breweries were in the mix this year yet only 45 'small brewpubs' took medals...in which we were one. Our medal came from the Other Strong Beer category which pits beers of various types against each other that are made 'bigger' than the recommended style guidelines.
Ours being an 'Imperialized Oatmeal Stout'. Also worthy of noting is we medaled in this category last year as well which is also a notable feat unto itself.

We have a keg of this Stout going on tap soon at the pub as we held it back for just such an occasion.

Cheers!

Todd

Todd on BeerObsessed.com

http://beerobsessed.com/brewer.htm#toddashman

These guys were great and they got me on audio for about 45 minutes. There is a great gallery in there as well...

Collaborative Evil-2009

Collaborate: to work jointly with others or together especially in an intellectual endeavor.

Collaborative Evil returns...with more breweries and a bit of leeway. In 2008 three brewers decided to create a beer recipe and then brew it at their respective brewhouses. The beer a Strong Dark Belgian inspired Ale brewed with Honey, and spices. Each brew had a unique ingredient distinguishing it from the others. This effort was intended to get the beers to the Great American Beer Festival in Denver so that they could be served at the same time under one roof. Two of the three beers managed to get there and be served to the public, the third alas was there but not able to be judged or served at the time of the festival. The founding brewers Zac Triemert of Lucky Bucket Brewing Co. La Vista, NE, Matt Van Wyk of Flossmoor Station, Flossmoor, IL and Todd Ashman of FiftyFifty Brewing, Truckee, CA.

In 2009 we've brought in six more breweries. The base style for this year is a Belgian inspired Strong Pale. The larger group presented some interesting hurdles and this also proved to be what this collaboration is all about.

Working together but also working within the confines of each respective brewery. We have production breweries and brewpubs involved and some with tight schedules and others with lot's of play in the brewing regimen. We asked each brewer to create a beer based on the style and then make it uniquely their own but within the parameters of the 'Belgian inspired Strong Pale'. This was important because it demonstrates what people think of when you mention a style. Because one of the things we focus on in Collaborative Evil is entering the respective beers in the Great American Beer Festival. Entry guidelines forbid entering the same beer so creating a theme and then allowing each brewer participating in Collaborative Evil to spin-off their own beer based on our base style. Tough but not impossible and the interpretations are very spread out and will be fun for GABF attendees to seek out on the festival floor.

The new participants are: Valley Brewing, Stockton, CA. Steve Altimari, Brewmaster, Sacramento Brewing, Sacramento, CA. Peter Hoey, Brewmaster, Fatheads Brewery and Grill, Cleveland, OH, Matt Cole, Brewmaster, Flossmoor Station, Flossmoor, IL, Bryan Shimkos Brewmaster(New Brewmaster), Oakshire Brewing, Eugene, OR Matt Van Wyk Brewmaster, Silver Peak Brewing, Reno, NV Brandon Wright, Brewmaster, Speakeasy Brewing Co., San Francisco, CA. John Gillooly, Brewmaster.



Look for these beers on the festival floor at the 2009 GABF and at the breweries participating. Production breweries may have limited releases check with your favorite for more details...

June notables and the GABF timeline....

We got word from the folks that run the California State Fair's Commercial Craft Brewing Competition that FiftyFifty did pretty well. 1 Gold, 5 Silver's and 2 Bronze's. Two beers made 2nd in their categories Blonde #2 in Blonde Ale(which got a Gold...Yay!), Drunk Monk Abbey Dubbel in the Belgian Strong Dark Ale. Imperial Eclipse took 3rd in Smoke and Wood Aged beer and Manifesto Pale Ale got an Honorable Mention. Kyle and I are quite pleased with the results considering what we're working with as well as the fact that 2 years running we've placed in very good company(much bigger breweries with long(er) histories).

Imperial Eclipse Stout should be available at Florians in Truckee now. They got the rest of the 2008 vintage. Look for the 2009 batch to be around in December.

We're entered in the Great American Beer Festival again. We've got ten entries and we're VERY happy with them and the fingers are crossed(no pressure!). As things lead up to the GABF I'll try and be more prudent about posting here. With only two or three beers yet to be brewed it's pretty tense in the brewhouse. Just gotta get the stuff bottled and shipped off to Denver. With just about two months before the beer makes it's journey it always an anxious time for me...

As always thanks for your support of the pub it's always nice to hear that someone reads this stuff so thanks for speaking up!

Cheers!

Todd